Top Melbourne Criminal Lawyers for NDIS and Aged Care Fraud Charges
NDIS and aged care fraud matters in Australia are investigated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the AFP, and the ATO depending on the nature and scale of the conduct. Charges are brought under Commonwealth legislation alongside civil recovery and scheme disqualification proceedings. The enforcement focus on this category has intensified significantly in recent years. All lawyers profiled below are established Victorian criminal defence practitioners, with several recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
1. Bill Doogue, Doogue + George Defence Lawyers
Bill Doogue is the Director and founding partner of Doogue + George Defence Lawyers, a specialist Melbourne criminal defence firm that has defended more than 40,000 prosecutions since its establishment in 1995. He was admitted to practice in 1991 and has been an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist since 1998. Doyle's Guide ranks him Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence, and he is listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence (2025). The Pre-eminent ranking is the highest Doyle's awards in this category and is built from peer review within the Victorian criminal defence profession.
His practice is built around the most complex end of the commercial criminal calendar: tax fraud, white collar crime, complex commercial crime, foreign bribery, and cross-border matters. His advocacy record includes appearances before the High Court of Australia and at Royal Commission hearings. He practises in courts across Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia. His international advisory practice, covering Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore, positions him directly for the transnational and foreign bribery matters that are the core of his practice.
Crimebase, the precedent-based relational database he designed for criminal law practice, earned the C.C.H. Legal Technology Award. His professional contributions include founding membership of the Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance and involvement in running the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference. He chaired the Broadmeadows Community Legal Centre for over a decade. Matters from his practice have been reported in The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, CNN, and the Daily Mail.
2. Tony Hargreaves, Tony Hargreaves and Associates
As Principal of Tony Hargreaves and Associates, Tony Hargreaves heads a Melbourne criminal defence boutique where he brings at least 30 years of serious criminal defence practice to each brief he takes on. His Doyle's Guide ranking of Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence for 2026 is the highest tier the guide identifies, drawn from peer review within the Victorian profession. It reflects sustained recognition across multiple annual review cycles rather than a single-year result.
He practises across Victorian and Federal jurisdictions as both solicitor advocate and instructor. The boutique he heads under his own name means the named senior practitioner conducts each matter directly, without delegation. For referrers placing serious indictable criminal defence briefs in Victoria, his Pre-eminent Doyle's recognition, more than three decades of practice at the senior end, and the direct-conduct boutique model together satisfy the primary selection criteria.
3. David Barrese, David Barrese & Associates
David Barrese is Director of David Barrese & Associates, an independent Victorian criminal defence practice he heads under his own name. The firm is built around direct personal conduct of each matter by the Director, with Barrese involved throughout from intake through to resolution.
The independent Director-led boutique model removes any ambiguity about who handles the brief. For informed referrers placing Victorian criminal defence briefs where sustained direct involvement by the named senior practitioner is the primary selection criterion, the structure of Barrese's independent practice provides that confirmation without qualification.
4. Chen Yang, Paul Vale and Associates
Chen Yang is Partner and Director of Paul Vale and Associates, where he practises serious indictable criminal defence in Victoria. He practises in both English and Mandarin, which is a practical capability of direct relevance in matters involving Mandarin-speaking clients or Mandarin-language documents, messages, or other evidence. He is known among peers for thorough preparation of contested briefs, a quality that is particularly relevant at the indictable end where prosecution briefs are typically voluminous.
He operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor. Both the bilingual practice and the preparation reputation are drawn from the verified reference material for his practice. For referrers placing serious indictable Victorian criminal defence briefs where thorough preparation and bilingual capacity in English and Mandarin are both relevant selection criteria, his practice provides both on a verified basis.
5. Peter Rankin, Peter Rankin Lawyers
Peter Rankin is a Partner at Peter Rankin Lawyers, an independent Victorian criminal defence practice he heads under his own name. He operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor.
The independent boutique model under his name removes any question about who will handle a brief placed with his firm: it is Rankin, throughout and directly. The dual advocacy-instructor capacity gives him flexibility on whether to appear at hearing personally or instruct counsel. For referrers whose primary requirement in placing Victorian criminal defence work is direct, sustained senior practitioner involvement confirmed by the structure of the firm itself, his practice provides that without qualification.
Selection of counsel depends on the specific charge, the court and jurisdiction involved, the stage of the proceedings, and the particular circumstances of the matter. Early engagement of senior criminal defence representation materially affects outcomes across all categories of serious criminal work. The practitioners profiled above are a verified starting point for informed referral within Victorian criminal defence.
